Rovio talks optimised ad placements, player segmentation and Beacon

• Niina Ojala spoke at PGC Helsinki 2024 about tech suite Beacon, supporting its games throughout their lifecycles.
• She highlighted the advantages of tweaking games without releasing new client versions.

"You want to ensure the best player experience within the game, but if every time you change something you need to deliver a new client version, that slows you down," says Rovio principal product manager and team lead of Beacon product management Niina Ojala.

Ojala appeared on stage at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2024 to discuss Beacon, Rovio’s tech suite being used to support its in-house games.

She talked about its applications throughout a game’s lifecycle, from bringing mobile games to the market, to UA, to engagement and monetisation.

"Really, the player is in the centre of everything with Beacon. It starts with the player, we connect with the player, we collect player data," Ojala said.

"So, in the prototyping phase the game teams already get a variety of dashboards, reports and player-level data out of the box. They can use that to analyse early game versions."

Later, in the soft launch phase, Rovio then uses data modelling to help predict the lifetime value of a player. The studio also selects user acquisition campaigns to ensure long-term optimal performance.

Player personalisation

"We have our own ad mediation which enables granular optimisation of ad placements and player segmentation," Ojala explained.

She shared that Beacon allows Rovio to optimise between spending players and non-spending players who are open to watching rewarded ads instead. The tech also enables Rovio to configure games remotely rather than pushing a new client version.

Ojala suggested that a game "really needs to feel fresh every day" for returning players, who expect new content daily. She also argued the importance of a personalised experience for new players, providing them with welcome events no matter when they start.

PGC Helsinki will return on October 7th and October 8th, 2025. To be involved in the conversation and network with other industry professionals, you can register for the show here.